Generous donation will make religious school tuition free

Oheb Shalom synagogue will be making Zeman Religious School tuition free thanks to a donation from the Arthur Schechner Charitable Foundation. In its acceptance of this unprecedented offering, Oheb Shalom is the only synagogue in the South Orange, Maplewood area to offer complimentary enrollment to its religious school.

“One of the greatest challenges of our times is loneliness, and one of the greatest obstacles to joining a community is the cost,” said Rabbi Abigail Treu of Oheb Shalom. “People crave connection and want their children to feel a sense of belonging and love. Oheb Shalom offers just that – a diverse, vibrant and thriving congregation that is small enough that people can make genuine connections and friendships.”

Treu said Schechner’s donation gives the synagogue the resources to reach families who never considered raising their kids with a Jewish education or community. A spokesperson for the synagogue said they were not releasing the dollar amount of the donation.

“We have been building relationships with families at Oheb Shalom and facilitating connections between members, so that no one is lost in the crowd,” said Education Director Gavin Hirsch. “While children are having fun and learning in a close knit environment, we are fostering Jewish pride, Jewish joy and a lifelong commitment to Jewish engagement.”

Arthur Schechner said he is “convinced that the education of the Jewish family and particularly the children is the stem cell to the survival of the Jewish people.”

“Proverbs teaches us: ‘Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ I further believe that cost should not be a barrier to cultivating a synagogue community or receiving a Jewish education,” Schechner said. “That is why I created The Arthur Schechner Charitable Foundation. It will enable students and their parents to attend the Zeman religious school absolutely tuition free.”

Schechner said his great grandfather Isaac Schwarz, who was the founding Rabbi of Oheb Shalom, in about 1875, also established the first Hebrew Free Day School in New Jersey.

“In some measure then, establishing my Foundation almost 150 years later brings my family’s gift of a free Jewish education full circle,” Schechner said.

Greater MetroWest Federation conducted a study of local Jewish families in 2020 and discovered that of the 29,700 children living here, only 20% in grades K-12 are enrolled in a part-time supplemental school, with only 7% enrolled in Jewish day school or yeshiva.

Registration for the Zeman Religious School is ongoing. To learn more, go to ohebshalom.org/zeman-school or email gavinhirsch@ohebshalom.org.

Oheb Shalom is an egalitarian, inclusive and multi-generational synagogue that embraces Jewish tradition in the 21st Century, according to a press release from the synagogue.

The Zeman Religious School at Oheb Shalom Congregation teaches children from Kindergarten through 7th grade.

The program runs Sundays 9 a.m. to noon for children in kindergarten through seventh grade and Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. from third through seventh grades. It features a curriculum about Jewish life and culture using a variety of hands-on activities inside and outside of the classroom.